I have to start out this post with some of the beautiful pictures we just received of Lily at the end of last week! (they are letting her hair grow out after having kept it nearly shaved for months! :)
I just can't believe we are almost there and will soon be holding this precious little girl - we will be a family!
Well, it has come to this....my last post before I head out to board a plane that will take us half way around the world to meet our daughter in China. And it's now less than 24 hrs away!! It is surreal to say the least. This journey has certainly had it's ups and downs and major life changes all throughout the process and now we are just hours away from the ultimate end goal of this process...traveling to China and bringing home our little girl. When we leave here tomorrow morning things will never be the same in this house again.
I have spent much of the last week preparing to leave, of course, and also preparing my kids for school. We have been so incredibly busy that I don't think I have had a lot of time to think about being away from the 3 youngest kiddos for more than 2 weeks. I have only ever left them for a long weekend and by the end of that I was so ready to get back home to them! I know it will give us the much needed time to bond with Lily and just spend getting to know her and letting her get to know us. I am sure we will make great use of FaceTime and Skype while we are in China!
This past Friday we also received our TA (invitation to travel from China) hard copy that we will take with us to China to get our girl. It was a cool moment for us....
In addition to receiving our TA, packing for the trip, preparing the house and the 3 kiddos we will leave behind, we have also spent much time in prayer as we prepare our hearts for this final part of the journey to Liliana. For us it is the critical part of this journey without a doubt. This was God's calling on our lives and without constant seeking of His guidance through this process we could easily get off track and make this entire process harder than it needs to be - for all of us!
That is why this Sunday at our church meant so much to us - our pastor called us up in front of the congregation during service so that the church could pray over us and Lily for the journey ahead. It was such an emotional morning in general and I definitely had a little bit of sadness as I knew this was the last Sunday I would worship with this family for a few weeks. Feeling their love and prayers so strongly was the PERFECT send off and food for my spirit!
Well, I guess that about wraps it up. My head is swimming with so many thoughts and my heart with so many emotions right now that is is super hard to concentrate on anything.
Please keep us in your prayers and check back here over the next 2 weeks as I hope to continue updating this blog while we are away.
Our count down is about to be complete!!!
Love,
Derek and Jessica
In addition to receiving our TA, packing for the trip, preparing the house and the 3 kiddos we will leave behind, we have also spent much time in prayer as we prepare our hearts for this final part of the journey to Liliana. For us it is the critical part of this journey without a doubt. This was God's calling on our lives and without constant seeking of His guidance through this process we could easily get off track and make this entire process harder than it needs to be - for all of us!
That is why this Sunday at our church meant so much to us - our pastor called us up in front of the congregation during service so that the church could pray over us and Lily for the journey ahead. It was such an emotional morning in general and I definitely had a little bit of sadness as I knew this was the last Sunday I would worship with this family for a few weeks. Feeling their love and prayers so strongly was the PERFECT send off and food for my spirit!
Well, I guess that about wraps it up. My head is swimming with so many thoughts and my heart with so many emotions right now that is is super hard to concentrate on anything.
Please keep us in your prayers and check back here over the next 2 weeks as I hope to continue updating this blog while we are away.
Our count down is about to be complete!!!
Love,
Derek and Jessica
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